The Movers and Shakers: Exile International

By Sarah Foy
Kony 2012. You watched the video, you saw the facebook statuses. If you’re like me, your heart broke to see a man, Joseph Kony, abduct hundreds of children and force them to kill their parents and fight in the Lord’s Resistance Army in this war waging across Africa. And, if you’re like me, you wanted to know what was being done to help these children. Exile International is a program that answers that question by focusing on three-fold plan: action, advocacy, and awareness.

The Exile team goes to the places hardest hit like Congo and eastern Africa to provide trauma care to these war-effected children through art and expressive therapy workshops. They listen to the kids’ stories and help them with the guilt of killing family members and fighting in the war. Exile International also has a sponsorship program for those orphaned and abandoned by the war providing food, shelter, education, and psychosocial care. The team is dedicated to social justice and advocacy, and they share the children’s artwork to raise awareness.
Exile International is taking major action against a major crime by helping these children live normal lives again and giving them opportunity for a future outside of fighting in the war. You can be involved in this program by telling others about Exile International, researching the war in Africa and become informed, or donating to their funding. Visit www.exileinternational.org for more details.

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Vote Kid President

By Sarah Foy

While you were reading the political arguments on Facebook (or joining in on them yourself), you might have missed a new candidate gracing the world of YouTube: Kid President.

He’s the self appointed voice for his generation, and he always tells it like it is. With a few hundred views on his YouTube channel, Kid President had a humble beginning, but soon the world took notice of his contagious charm, wit, and brutal honesty. For a special episode of his show, he interviewed the creator of Adventure Time, Ward Pen. But this was just the tip of the iceberg for Kid President. Soon, Frankie Jonas, the youngest of the famous Jonas Brothers, was appointed Vice President, drawing more eyes to this new take on politics. The biggest breakthrough for Kid President yet was announced just the other day. If you follow Rainn Wilson, a.k.a Dwight for The Office, you might have heard the news. Kid President is joining the popular Youtube Channel Soulpancake, a project co founded by Rainn Wilson himself. It’s apparent that Kid President has a bright future ahead of him, but you might be asking, “Just what does this kid do?”
Kid President encourages his viewers to take a different view on life. Instead of waiting for someone else to make things better, he tells us that it is our responsibility to give the world a reason to dance, to create positive change in the world. He respectfully asks adults to stop being so boring. He tells us to stop posting on Facebook and actually make stuff happen. Kid President isn’t all talk and no walk, though. Most recently he made a video calling attention to Krochet Kids, an organization that sells hats made by over a hundred different people in Uganda and Peru to help give these people jobs, education, and a future. I almost forgot the best part of Kid President. He’s likes to dance. A lot.
Kid President is definitely making the world a better place and giving us all a laugh at the same time. As soon as you’re able to get over the fact that this elementary school kid is way cooler than you will ever be, you can begin to take his advice and create positive change. I’ll leave you with the words of Kid President himself, “Don’t be in a party. Be a party.”

For more Kid President, check out:

http://www.facebook.com/KidPresident

https://twitter.com/iamkidpresident

http://kidpres.tumblr.com/

http://kidpresident.com/

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The Movers and Shakers: The Global Soap Project

By Sarah Foy

Every year an estimated 2.4 million children die from hygiene and sanitation related issues. Yes, you read correctly. Millions of children around the world are dying because of issues that can be prevented by a bar of soap.

Now, letʼs go to America. 2.9 million bars of soap are discarded from hotel rooms in the U.S. everyday, many of which have been used only once or twice. Derek Kayongo, a CNN Hero, found a way to connect the lack and the waste to derive a solution. He calls it the Global Soap Project. He and several different volunteers collect the soap, shave off the grimy, used layer of the soap, and purify and melt it down to form fresh bars of soap. Because of the soap collected for over 900 hotels in North America, the Global Soap Project sends bars to twenty-three countries around the world.
What can you do to help? Itʼs as simple as telling the hotel your family stays in on vacations about Derek Kayongo and his mission. You can also donate or organize a fundraiser. One of the best ways to help, though, is to visit their warehouse in Atlanta, Georgia and scrape the soap yourself! To find out more details or contact Derek Kayongo about helping, visit www.globalsoap.com.

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The Movers and the Shakers: Improbable Philanthropy

By Sarah Foy

Looking around at the world today, tragedy and injustice happens all throughout the globe on a daily basis. Al Andrews (Improbable Philanthropist) saw the pain and wanted to be a part of the healing. Here is his story.

"If you have a dream that doesn't seem nearly impossible then your dream isn't big enough," Al Andrews exclaims to a crowd of three hundred as he shares his dream of being a philanthropist and his plan to achieve it. Al wanted to be a philanthropist; he wanted to spread his excessive wealth with several charities that allow men, women, and children to soar to their highest ability. The only shortcoming to this was that he didn't have excessive wealth. His dream was definitely big enough. It seemed nearly impossible. Al came up with a simple plan to help him gain the status of wealth necessary for philanthropy.

'Step 1. Start a business (in my case, write and publish a children's book).
Step 2. Make it into a successful business.
Step 3. Donate 100% of the net profits to support a number of pre selected projects around the world that helped men, women, and children "take flight."'

           

So, Al Andrews wrote a children's book, found an illustrator, and self published the masterpiece that would bring him the great wealth he had imagined. The book is entitled "The Boy, the Kite, and the Wind" and it has already raised $20,000 for one of the charities on his list. Andrew continues to sell copies of his story, making his big dream more and more of a reality every day.

To learn more about Al Andrews's story or to buy a copy of his book visit www.improbablephilanthropy.com

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